Lightfooted Barra's page

Slowly, painfully, Barra clawed his way back to consciousness. Every inch of his body hurt - his tongue had grown hair, someone had re-purposed his skull as a church bell, and some Morninglord-damned bastard had put a massive flaming orb in the sky.

"Myaa..."

"Oh good, you're awake. And it's not even 10th bell." Barra's uncle stooped, setting a mug of steaming willow tea down next to the couch before going back to his desk. His arm shot out, and Barra drained half the mug in one gulp before sitting up. He took stock. His feat hurt, so he must've gone out last night, and his side was absolutely covered in bruises. He might have cracked a - Oh. Latharna. And her brothers. He took another deep sip of tea.

A half-bell later and with two to go before his shift started, Barra wandered over to his uncle's desk and asked "So what're you deciphering today? More of our ancestors ancient techniques for farming in a forest?"

"No, I finished that. This is something Cait, the older lady down the street, found in her attic. Some kind of instructional manual, I think, from the days of Ascalhorn. Maybe even older." His uncle smiled at Barra's interest and passed him a few pages. "It looks like a dance."

Barra's eyebrows shot up. "A dance?" He tested his ribs again, and thought of that beautiful girl. "Can I help?"

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Last Year

Signal horns sounded across the city, though Barra could barely make them out over the screams. The orcs had breached the gate.

He and two or three others had taken shelter inside a livery - the militia was scattered, their commander was dead, and no one knew anything. Save that the orcs had breached the gate. Under the door, he could see shadows moving and his shaking hands tightened on his shortswords. He could smell them, all blood and rancid fat and wet dog. He looked to Latharna next to him and she nodded, touched his hand.

There was a rippling crack as the door splintered inwards, and a massive orc carrying some kind of ram stepped inside. It had to duck. In a surprisingly mellow basso it shouted "Horse flesh!" and then stopped, sniffing the air. "Man flesh." Behind it, more orcs filtered in.

With a sharp cry, the militia members charged. Barra's vision tunneled on an orc on the left and, as it lunged at him, he came up short and took a half step back. And, for a half-moment, the world stopped. His ball change echoed like the beat of some enormous drum, vibrating up from his feat and into his arms, and near-instinctively he stepped into an outside turn around his partner. The orc's guts spilled onto the straw, and those same echoing beats accompanied his footwork. Without really knowing why he smiled and advanced, trying to keep the beat going.

It was beautiful. He and the other militia members fought like dervishes, like the entire battle had been choreographed. Soon only the massive orc was left, and his arms and legs were scored with cuts. They danced around him, weapons flickering, and it went down on one knee.

And then Latharna misstepped, and the orc's ram caught her in the knee. She screamed, Barra screamed, and he drove his sword into it's jaw before running to help.

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Today

Barra was standing outside the temple of Torm, frowning at a horse. Around him, priests and packers and other poor souls were bustling back and forth in a frantic effort to prepare for the journey to He'd agreed to this foolhardy expedition to repay his uncle's debt to the temple, and because it looked likely to pay more than busing tables. He hadn't expected the horse. Barra hated horses, hated the way they smelled, hated the way he felt after a day of riding them. It snorted at him.

He broke the stare, turning around. His uncle was there, with his bum arm, and next to him was Latharna, leaning on her cane. He grinned despite himself. For them, he could survive the horse.

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Defense:
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AC: 21, Touch: 16, Flat-footed: 15 (+4 Dex, +4 Chain Shirt, +2 Inner Sphere Stance)
HP: 48
Fort: +7 Ref: +9 Will: +7 (+2 vs. Enchantment) (+1 vs. Fear) (+4 vs. Bardic Performance, Sonic, and Language-Dependent)

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Offense:
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Speed: 30ft
Melee:
- +1 / Masterwork Shortswords +8/+8 (1d6 + 7/6, 19-20/x2)
- Dagger +8 (1d4 + 5, 19-20, x2, 10ft increment)
Ranged:
- Shortbow +8 (1d6, 20, x3, 60ft increment)
- Ammunition: 60 arrows
Maneuvers Readied:
- 1st: Encouraging Roar, Swift Claws, Tactical Strike, Defending The Pride

Maneuvers Known:
- 1st: Encouraging Roar, Defending the Pride, Swift Claws, Offensive Roll, Tactical Strike, Leaping Dragon

Active Stance: Inner Sphere Stance

Stances Known:
- 1st: Inner Sphere Stance. Outer Sphere Stance

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Statistics:
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Ability Scores: STR 10; DEX 19; CON 14; INT 10; WIS 10; CHA 16
BAB: +4; CMB +4; CMD: 20
Feats: Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Skill Focus (Perform (Dance)), Deadly Agility, Discipline Focus (Thrashing Dragon), Weapon Focus (Shortsword)
Skills: Acrobatics +10, Bluff +10, Escape Artist +9, Intimidate +8, Kn. Arcana +5, Kn. Dungeoneering +5, Kn. Geography +5, Kn. History +8, Kn. Local +6, Kn. Martial +6, Kn. Nature +5, Kn. Religion +5, Perception +6, Perform (Dance) +15 (Can use in place of Diplomacy, Acrobatics, and Spellcraft), Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +9 Racial Modifiers: +2 Perception
Traits: Savant (Perform (Dance)), Unorthodox Method (Thrashing Dragon for Mithril Current)
SQ: Tempo (5), Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Performance, Weapon Proficiency, Well-Versed, Bonus Feats, Bravery, Armor Training
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Special Abilities:
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Bardic Performances: (15 rounds/day)
- Inspire Courage - An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. To be affected, an ally must be able to perceive the bard’s performance.
- Inspire Competence - An ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as she continues to hear the bard’s performance. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard.
- Counterpoint - Affected allies gain a bonus equal to 1/2 the rubato’s class level (minimum one) on all non-damage rolls made as part of initiating counters. An ally must be able to perceive the rubato’s performance to be affected.
- Metronome - While maintaining this performance, he adds one point of tempo to his tempo pool at the beginning of each of his turns.
- Dissonance - Enemies within 30 feet that can perceive the rubato’s performance must succeed at a Will save (DC 14) or take a –1 penalty on all non-damage rolls made as part of their attacks or strikes while the rubato maintains this performance. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same rubato’s dissonance performance until the end of the encounter.

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Equipment:
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Fighter's Kit, Skeleton Key, Two Masterwork Shortswords, +1 Chain Shirt, Shortbow, 60 arrows, Ioun Torch, Common Dungeoneering Kit, Dancer's Garb, Cold Weather Outfit, 313g